It’s been a pretty busy week, partially for reasons I’m sure you’re all aware of, so the latest Tool Newsletter has slipped my mind. The good news is that we’re getting them again, the not so good news is that it’s likely the kind of newsletter that some of you here will dislike and lament the return of Blair. It has a short Tool update, and then focuses on a recent trip to Area 51:

Knowing that what most of you are interested in is the progress of the recording sessions; I recently asked a couple of band members about any updates. So far, I haven’t received any replies, which I blame on the FIFA World Cup. However, from an earlier conversation that I had with Justin, I take it that everything is hunky-dory. There haven’t been any more Altar fires, attacks by electronics munching tawny Crazy Ants or peculiar noises emanating from the new recording console. The studio has been properly banished with prescribed formulas and the uranium glass serving bowl has been filled with fiery Snickers. Without a black scrying mirror named “Almuchefi”, I don’t have any time-tables (although in my March, 2017 newsletter, I gave a pretty damn good guess as to when the tracking would start… wouldn’t you say?). Should I hear back from someone, I will include anything deemed newsworthy in an addendum.

So, with that in mind, does anyone want to hear about my recent trip to America’s most famous secret base? (Now that it’s practically in my back yard.) Okay… there’s one curious fellow wearing a “I WANT TO BELIEVE” tee-shirt that I see in my mind’s eye. Because it was a new moon (well, almost), a few of us went out to the perimeter to gaze at the stars and anything else of interest.

So there you go. The best update I can give you from the studio is that Adam seems well and truly progressing on recording his parts. Once he’s done, we can only assume Maynard we start recording his vocals once finished touring with A Perfect Circle (still in Europe at time of writing).

Even if I select “remember me” when logging in the site never keeps me logged in once I leave. Any way to fix that?

As long as Maynard records his vocals before the next APC tour the timeline for the album will be in good shape. This of course requires Adam to be mostly done which who knows how much longer that will take.

If vocals aren’t recorded until beginning of 2019, then I will assume it will be a fall release instead of a possible summer release

Adam seems to have been tracking guitars for some time now, so it is likely he’s got enough done for May Jay to start recording SOMETHING. Why would he need to be completely done with every song for vocal tracking to begin? If Maynard feels like he’s got some good voice momentum post APC tour 1, then he might want to try to capitalize on that. Or maybe he could use a break… who knows.

This is traditionalism but I saw the decline for instance in Patton’s records when he was absent from actual recording sessions to do vox. There’s a reason it’s called ‘mailing it in’…and that’s what’s going to happen; you’re going to hear a disconnect between the vocals and the musical tracks. The voice is an instrument — if the other 3 think it’s important to be around each other to record, why would the vocals be any different…? It’s just another component of the sound. Being in person to bounce ideas back/forth, and discern immediate reactions and facial expressions to a track you’re laying down is critical in my experience.

Which Patton albums do you refer to? The last Tomahawk album maybe? I haven’t ready anything to suggest he’s absent or phones it in when recording

You’re right in that we don’t know how Maynard will record the vocals for this album, though he did suggest in a recent APC article he now records at home. Whether or not this will eventuate for the new Tool album remains to be seen.

oh I’m referring to almost all Patton recorded materials from 2001 on having been done via mail/email and generally at his home studio (the one he’s at when he’s pimping out some gear promotion for…TC Helicon I think…?) Like I said, some amazing material done that way, and some really awful. The concept/theme/vibe of the record as a whole DOES matter more than how the vocals are put down, I was just commenting on the value of having the person doing melodies, lyrics, and vocal arrangements actually being a full part of the process if at all possible. That is even though the writing process is always the same, the 3 jamming in this case and then solidifying parts to track and meld, it’s been in my personal opinion helpful to have the ears of the person who’s going to contribute their signature touches to a composition be present through the process, impossible/tedious as that may be.

I can’t say I agree that Patton’s work has gone downhill since 2001. I don’t disagree that it would be preferable to Maynard to record with the band, but I’m sure they will do what they feel is necessary to get the best result

You’re definitely right when viewing Patton’s catalog as a whole since 2001 about there not being an obvious decline or nadir. He’s easily made or participated in (imo) 4-5 truly classic LPs since then. He’s also made Peeping Tom (wretched, and not just because of the stylistic choice), Sol Invictus (OK for what it is, but absolutely phoned in vocally), Delirium Cordia (I’ll give you that it’s more an experiment than anything), Suspended Animation (I challenge anyone to say this record is actually one they spin more than once in a blue moon), Anonymous (same as mentioned before — an experiment) and Oddfellows (I walked away wondering how the fuck 4 such talented musicians made this LP) since then via the ‘we’ll trade demos and I’ll layer over them’ approach. On the other hand this period produced also made the first Tomahawk LP (classic, plus it was 2001 — the arbitrary cut-off for ‘classic’ vs. ‘latter era’ Patton), Director’s Cut (10/10), Mit Gas (excellent LP overall), the Dead Cross and John Zorn shit (overall quite good) and the Kaada collaboration (good for what it is). I suppose I was more commenting on my own perception of his particular example, where as good as some of those records are, none touch California, Angel Dust, King for a Day etc. That is just as much my age/nostalgia talking though 🙂 But one does notice a disconcerting trend of MP not particularly being involved/actually part of the bands, concepts and so on with many of those LPs. If Tool did Lateralus separate with the group mailing MJK the tracks to vocalize over, then of course I stand corrected — he did that marvelously if that was the case.

That said no one knows how these vocals are going to be laid down, if they will be mailed in or done at least in the same general area as the other 3. I was just commenting on my experience with records I know have used one technique vs. the other.

I agree partly with you. To me 13th Step evaluated as a whole is half filler tracks, interesting ideas musically that MJK either had nothing to add over or felt were complete without him adding much to them. I think a better example even yet of what I was referring to are the Puscifer albums where they’re ‘assembled’ in Pro Tools, but those are a whole different animal being that MJK is dictating what he wants out of the musicians, whereas in Tool its a process of the group figuring out composition and then presenting it to him. I’m not a huge Puscifer fan because I don’t find them musically/instrumentally very compelling, but I have a lot of hope for the new Tool album being the kind of progressive, psychedelic experience they managed to bring forth several times prior 🙂

I really enjoyed 13th Step to be honest. I felt there was minimalism where it needed to be on that album. Didn’t like anything from APC that came after to be honest.

I figured you were referring to Puscifer in your statement and I am not a Puscifer fan at all. You’re right about the process there as well it’s more of a Maynard project than a collection of concepts and ideas from different brains.

I think we should all have faith in the new TOOL album. They won’t let us down.

I wanted to mention, I saw Glassjaw & Quicksand perform about a week ago in Sacramento. The opening band I had never heard of before and I really liked them live so I bought one of their vinyls that night before leaving.

The band is called Spotlights and the album I bought is their most recent release called “Seismic”. For anybody looking for some new music to check out I highly recommend this band. The singer/guitarist & the bassist are husband and wife. They write everything together and take a drummer on tour with them for the live performance.

I haven’t ventured into their previous albums yet because I’ve been so engulfed in “Seismic” but I’ll certainly be burning through their catalogue soon.

Sure thing! I checked out all of their back catalogue yesterday while I was at work and it’s decent but you can tell they have matured and become better song writers on the latest album “Seismic”. I’d still say it’s all worth a listen though.